Hi Hallmark,
Thank you for your post!
I definitely agree with "dating with a purpose" and not leading anyone on.
Maybe I just have a slightly different view of dating than many people. I'm just not in a huge rush to get married so I like to take my time in getting to know someone, while I would find that when I was actively looking, I often felt rushed and hurried, as if the other person was trying to see if we could get married within a few months (or at least, announce that we were in a relationship.)
As far as age goes, I'm guess I'm about right in the middle (soon to be 45.)
I don't feel the hurried desperation of my younger years, as I accepted long ago that God has brought me into a new chapter of life.
I used to be very worried about finding someone, and within a certain time frame (I remember one person telling me, "You'd better find someone now [early 30's]! You don't want to be looking at getting married when you're old, like around 50, would you?"
Hard to believe I'm almost there.
But, I don't have any regrets.
Rather than feeling the hurried pressure of my younger years, my philosophy now is just, "I'm going to try to go wherever God seems to lead... and if I happen to meet someone along the way, that'd be swell.
But even if I don't, it's going to be ok," which is lot more peaceful than how I used to view dating.